


Runaway Baby

by abrokecupoftea



Series: When I Say Vol, You Say Tron [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bottom Keith (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Eventual Romance, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Japanese Keith (Voltron), Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith (Voltron) Has Abandonment Issues, Keith (Voltron) Has a Praise Kink, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keith has two dads, Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Keith (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt is Savage, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Romance, Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Smut, Top Lance (Voltron), actually beta read, half smut, implied sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27617582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abrokecupoftea/pseuds/abrokecupoftea
Summary: Pidge looked up at the clock."They are so fucking in there.""What?" Hunk looked over from where he was making pasta."Keith and Lance. I walked in on them making out, and now they're fucking in the bathroom.""Oh."___Welcome to a fic you may or may not need in your life: 14k words filled with angst and love in the depths of space. Have fun, I guess.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: When I Say Vol, You Say Tron [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012608
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	Runaway Baby

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Grammarly says that it'll take around 57 minutes to read this, so get comfortable  
> 2\. Chapter Playlist:  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4e92VHimoihd9orYL0Vxxx  
> \- Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars (Once again, this song has Klance energy, fight me)  
> \- Ubugoe by Omoinotake  
> \- Lucky by Jason Mraz  
> (Cover by Jeremy Shada and Chloe Peterson:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Jd32ygw0Q  
> Lance's Part:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvm0tdzvQRE)  
> \- Electric Love by Børns  
> \- Dynasty by MIIA  
> \- Hometown Smile by Bahjat
> 
> 3\. Thanks to my friend for being an angel and beta reading this. They also came up with the summary.
> 
> (EDIT) 4. 1k hits??? thank you??? this is my just- the knowledge that one thousand people were interested in my fic just makes me happyyyyyy thank you may Klance shine their happy and gay light over all of youuuu (•ө•)♡
> 
> ~don't repost anywhere without permission~

\--

Five schools in three years. Shiro and Curtis were concerned, to say the least. 

"Do teenage boys normally have to switch schools so much?"

"I don't know. What was your school life like?"

"I was at the Garrison for most of my life. You?"

"The Garrison and outer-space."

"So, not the best parent material, then."

"Babe, nobody's perfect parent material. We should be thankful that the three of us aren't dead in a ditch somewhere."

"The two of you, you mean. I'm smart enough to not listen to strangers."

Shiro and Curtis sighed around the kitchen table, looking back down at the official-looking letter that had arrived with their post.

_Dear Mr. and Mr. Shirogane_ , the letter read. _We regret to inform you that Keith Shirogane has passed the five D.A. (disciplinary actions) mark. Because of this, unfortunately, we must follow the school procedure and expel him. If you wish to talk more about the D.A. committed, you are welcome in our office at any time. With sincere regrets, The Boys Alliance of Tokyo_.

"You know-"

"Takashi..."

"The Garrison would be good for him. I'm just-"

"Hey, Dad. And Dad. Good morning."

Keith walked into the kitchen, only pausing to glance at the letter.

"School number six, huh?"

"Keith, your father and I-"

"The Garrison."

Keith frowned, looking up from the kitchen counter where he had been pouring milk.

"The school you guys went to?"

Shiro nodded, resting his elbows on the counter. Curtis looked annoyed but still leaned against his husband. 

"How would you like to give it a try?"

"And learn to fly planes?"

"No, to be more connected to space. Keith, there's no point in sending you to a school where you don't want to learn." Shiro gestured at the letter to enforce his point. "But if you can get into the Garrison, you could just study space all day. You won't be forced to talk with anyone. It would just be you and the stars. All-day, every day."

"Except for the holidays," Curtis interjected. "I want you home for the holidays."

Keith frowned, setting his now-empty glass in the sink.

"Why are you only making such a convincing case now? Why not bring it up after I got kicked out of Tokyo High?"

Curtis sighed, pushing his glasses up. A habit Keith noticed he tended to do when being faced with something uncomfortable.

"I- we just..." He sighed again. “ I would rather have you close by. It's, it's just safer that way."

"You mean it's easier to keep an eye on me."

Curtis shrugged. "Can you blame us?"

Keith looked between the two of them suspiciously. "I'm not going to the school where you guys are looked at as gods."

"Gods? We aren't- Shiro! Stop laughing!"

"Gods? That's funny. I barely spent time at the Garrison. I was in space with Matt and Sam."

"Dad. That's exactly why you're famous. No cadet just waltzes into the Garrison and gets sent on a suicide mission two years later only to return alive."

Shiro grimaced. "Your Dad was waiting for me to return- I couldn't disappoint him."

"I hope to god there aren't any couples there."

Shiro's eyes widened. "Does this mean you'll go?"

Keith smirked back. "Does this mean I get to change my last name?"

Curtis frowned. "Keith, not this again. Why do you want to want to change it so badly?"

"I'm adopted."

"We're aware of that." Curtis replied dryly. 

"Kogane is a pretty awesome name. I'll even let you hyphen it." 

Curtis threw his hands up. "I give up."

Shiro looked impressed. "You came up with that on the spot?"

Keith nodded. "Keith Kogane. Sounds badass."

"Go for it."

\--

Two months later, Keith Shirogane-Kogane, or simply Keith Kogane, stood in front of an imposing building situated in the middle of a desert. 

"Curtis let you change your name?"

"Just barely."

"Ha!"

Katie Holt, daughter of Sam and Colleen Holt, skipped alongside him. 

"Didn't he pitch a total hissy fit the last times you brought it up?"

"Yup."

"Weird how he changed his mind."

"He gave up."

Katie giggled before skipping ahead. "Let's go, Keith! Matt said that if you're late, they'll give you the worst rooms!"

Keith rolled his eyes, watching as she sprinted ahead of him. They knew each other, mainly from the billions of times as a child he had gone over to the Holts' place while his Dads were giving lectures in neighboring states.

Katie had been ecstatic when she found out that Keith was going to the Garrison too. 

"Why are you going?"

"To get away from people."

"Oh. I'm going to find my crew! Dad said that I would have my own crew someday, so I'm hoping that if I attend, I'll be able to find them faster!"

"I don't think that's how it works."

"Just you wait and see, I'll find them, and we'll be unstoppable!"

"Wonderful."

Katie Holt was the definition of energetic, and most if not all of her sentences ended with an exclamation mark. She was also Keith's only friend. Not by choice, of course. But still, Keith was glad that she had stuck around, especially after the not-just-rumors had started.

"You're gay, not dead."

"Mhm."

"You're still a person, you know?"

"Mhm."

"Are you crying?"

"..."

"Murder time, baby. Wanna help?"

"...No."

"Okay. Have some brownies."

The next day, three of his former classmates had been hospitalized, and there was a rumor that they had been attacked and bitten by wild animals.

"You bit their necks?"

"No, I bit their arms."

"You fucking gremlin." 

"You broke someone's hand!"

"At least I didn't bite them."

"Fucking hypocrite."

Keith smiled, internally laughing at the memory, before walking a little bit faster. He would never outright run, but he could walk a bit faster. Just a bit.

The Garrison was a multi-story building, a technological wonder with more planes than cadets.

"Junior cadets, over here!" A man with one eye shut yelled.

A small group of teens that had been previously milling around aimlessly, now clustered together in an awkward circle around the man. Now up close, Keith could see a name tag identifying him as M. Iverson.

"Congratulations, Junior Cadets. I'm Commander Iverson. I'm in charge here at the Garrison, and I expect to be referred to as such." He spoke with rigid authority and held himself straight. 

Katie snorted beside him.

"Everyone here has been sorted into groups of either three or four depending on your potential, and with the people we believe will help you become the best Cadets here."

Commander Iverson nodded to the scrawny man next to him. 

"Hello, Junior Cadets. My name is Adam. I am a pilot and an Instructor here at the Garrison. The groups we have put in consist of the following: A pilot, a mechanic, and a technician. The groups with four members will also have a navigator."

A female stepped up. "I'm Admiral Sanda. This is Victoria." She gestured to the girl beside her. "She will be in charge of overseeing your major qualification exams. I will be in charge of teaching the navigators."

Commander Iverson stepped up once again. "Here, especially this year, we are your family. Once a cadet, always a cadet. The Garrison is home to our family. No matter where the stars may take you, you will always have a place here among us."

Victoria spoke up, "This year, we only have eight new Junior Cadets. You eight will join the rest of them this evening during supper. However, before we let you go, we'll be announcing your groups and your rooms."

"We are allowing you, with the belief that you won't do anything rash, to allow both girls and boys to room together. Now that I have said that, I will announce your teams." Adam paused, pulling up a screen. "Team 12: Ina Leifsdottir. Team 16: Nadia Rizavi and James Griffin. Team 17: Ryan Kinkade. Team 21: Katie Holt, Lance Charles McClain, Hunk Garrett, and Keith Kogane."

"With the exception of Team 21, the rest of you will be meeting your teammates during supper. You will also be sharing your rooms with your teammates. You will have two days to request changes. After that, the teams will become permanent." 

"Thank you, Admiral Sanda. That is all we have for you for now. Your team numbers match your room numbers. The key requires an optical scan, so you and your roommates, with the exception of us four,” Commander Iverson gestured to himself, Adam, Admiral Sanda, and Victoria, “will be the only ones who can access your rooms."

"We're together!" Katie was grinning as she turned to Keith.

"Are you guys Katie and Keith?" They looked up as a tall boy with a yellow bandana appeared. "I'm Hunk! Nice to meet you guys!" 

He seemed nice enough, and in contrast to his height, seemed to exude teddy bear vibes.

"Hey! I'm Lance, your pilot." A mess of brown hair was all he saw before the boy pressed his face close to Keiths. "You're our navigator, aren't you?"

"He is! And I'm your technician!" Katie squeezed in between them, sticking her hand awkwardly for Lance to shake.

"Nice. I was excited when they said your name. There aren't a lot of girls who are interested in space exploration. My sister is also a technician here!" Lance pointed towards Victoria. 

"That's cool. I'm your mechanic. I also get motion sickness." Hunk sheepishly smiled. At their looks of disbelief, he added, "I can also bake well." 

Lance nodded. "You've just redeemed yourself, Hunky-boo."

"Let's go check out our room!" Katie raced past them, getting lost in the maze of hallways.

"Which way did she go?"

"Uh, left, I think?"

Keith sighed.

"Straight ahead, and then a left."

"Woah, you already studied the floor plans?"

Keith shrugged carelessly. "She wanted to."

Hunk nodded. "Childhood friends?" 

"Yup."

By the time they reached their room, third door on the right, Keith had decided something. A lot of things, actually. First being, loud blondes aren't a thing. It's a loud brunette. And second being, Lance liked to talk. A lot. It took them 15 minutes to walk from the front hall to Room 21, and the entire way there, he had talked nonstop, about fucking garlic knots. Garlic. Knots. 

The only reason why Keith hadn't begun filing a team transfer already was because Lance had scored almost a hundred million points during the precision tests. Someone with his skills would be hard to find if he ever left. And Katie would be sad. 

The door slid open as they approached it. 

"You took your sweet time," Katie drawled. She gestured behind her to the two bunk beds. "I call dibs on top."

"Me too!" Lance rushed in, climbing and flopping onto one of the top bunks, which was almost impressive considering the low ceiling and his lanky height. 

Keith looked around at the barren room. There were eight bags on the floor and two empty closets layered in a fine coating of dust. Keith wrinkled his nose. It was no secret that the Garrison had been getting fewer and fewer applicants. Many people preferred to let the stars stay as a mystery, and instead take careers that surround them with people. 

"I'll take this bed," Hunk pointed to the bed underneath Katies. "I don't like small spaces.

Keith looked back and saw that the other bunk was pushed against the wall, making the beds seem smaller than they were. 

"Guess I'll take it, then."

"We're bunkies!" Lance poked his head over the top of the minuscule railings, grinning.

"Yay."

Hunk looked around. "We still have a few hours left. Why don't we clean up? I can clean the kitchen and make something."

Katie nodded. "I'll vacuum, I guess."

"Keith and I can dust," Lance slid down, "I'm pretty sure I saw some dusters when I walked in." He found two stuck in between the wall and the closet door and handed one to Keith. "Ready?" 

Keith had nodded, wordlessly turning his back to start dusting the closets.

"Let's play some music!" Katie grabbed one of her bags, distinguishable by their olive green color, and rummaged for a while, before finding what she was looking for. "Here! I'm putting this on shuffle."

They continued to work, waiting in anticipation for the first song. 

"Do you hear me?

I'm talking to you. 

Across the water,

Across the deep blue ocean."

Keith jolted as Lance began to sing along.

"Under the open sky, 

Oh my,

Baby, I'm trying,"

"Boy I hear you in my dreams,"

Keith tentatively smiled as Lance beamed at him. He hasn't sung in years and only remembered one line. Katie was smirking, holding two thumbs up as she mouthed, go for it!.

"That's the only line I know."

"That's okay."

He smiled and they began dusting again, while Lance continued to sing.

Approximately 13 songs later, their room was clean and now spider-free. Hunk had also finished making two batches of garlic knots, and as Keith smelled them, he thought he understood why Lance had talked so much about them.

An intercom above them buzzed, and Commander Iverson's voice filtered in. "We are requesting all Junior Cadets in the Cafeteria. You have 10 minutes to arrive."

Hunk sighed, "I guess I'll put these in the oven, we can heat them once we get back."

"We should also probably unpack once we come back, too."

They left, filling out the door and merging with a stream of other Junior Cadets.

Lance nervously played with the cuffs on his leather jacket, his eyes wide as he noted the number of other cadets around them. Keith watched as Hunk whispered in his ear, and Lance relaxed a little. 

"We're a team," Katie said, nodding her head in their direction. "We do this stuff."

Right. The four of them were a team. It was beginning to sound nice. 

"I knew that, fucking gremlin."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Of course you did."

They followed the older cadets, entering a high ceilinged room. There were rows of tables and chairs, and each person began to sit in their designated seats. Eventually, there were eight people left standing.

Admiral Sanda and Commander Iverson entered and stepped onto a podium that had been rolled in just minutes before.

"Welcome, Cadets, to a new year at the Garrison. Today, we are welcoming eight new cadets into our ranks. I hope you will receive them warmly. As Admiral Sanda calls your name, please sit in your seat." Commander Iverson pointed to where eight name tags had been spread across the mass of tables. "This is where you will sit whenever you are in this room. Those of you that have a kitchen are not required to eat here. Now, Admiral Sanda, if you will."

Admiral Sanda cleared her throat and began to readout. "Ina Leifsdottir, Nadia Rizavi, James Griffin, Ryan Kinkade, Katie Holt, Hunk Garrett, Keith Kogane, and Lance Charles McClain." A round of scattered applause was heard as they began to take their seats. 

She continued to talk, reminding the new cadets to come pick up their uniforms before they leave. Keith's attention wandered as she droned on, hoping that he wouldn't be stuck with her as his instructor. As he began to scan the room, he noticed Lance, sitting across from him, whispering with the older Cadet behind him. 

Keith kicked him, pointing back at Admiral Sanda. "Pay attention."

Lance nodded, picking absentmindedly at the stray threads escaping his cuffs. Keith frowned but turned back in time to catch her talking about the classes.

"Mechanics will report to Victoria, Pilots will report to Adam, Technicians will report to Commander Iverson, and Navigators will report to me. Be there at nine-thirty sharp, and in your uniforms. That is all cadets, you may go. And remember, lights go off at ten!"

Keith stood up, watching as Katie stretched. "I thought she would never finish." She yawned, pushing her glasses up.

"I'll go get our uniforms, then." Lance stood up and left.

"Should we.. wait for him?" Keith shrugged, before reminding himself that they were teammates. And bunkmates. It would be polite to wait for him.

"Yeah. Unless you two wanna go ahead?"

Katie nodded. "Hunk said he would teach me how to make pasta!" Hunk nodded apologetically.

"Dinner should be ready by the time you guys get back."

Keith leaned with his head against the wall, counting the cracks in the ceiling. 

"So, how did you do it?"

"Yeah, you beat his score by almost half a million points!"

"There's no way you actually did it, right? Did you get your techie to help you out and raise your score?"

Keith frowned, before opening the doors to the cafeteria.

"I heard your sister's here too. Did you get her to mess with your score?"

The cadet Lance had been whispering with earlier had him cornered, his arm trapping him effectively against the wall.

Lance was grinning. "I should give away my secret, should I? The mystery's a part of my charm." He gestured to his face before ducking and twisting from between the cadet's arms.

Keith raised his eyebrows as Lance saw him.

"Keith!" He waved as he halted in front of him. "did I make you wait for too long?" 

"No. Are these our uniforms?" Keith gestured to the orange and white outfits. 

"Yup. We only have one shoulder stripe."

Keith nodded as Lance pointed to the one gold stripe. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the cadets looking at Lance.

"Let's go." Keith steered Lance out as he began to talk about the classes.

"We won't be able to fly together for almost a month." Lance frowned. "Actually, that's good. Hunk said that he gets motion sickness, so I should learn how to fly smoother." He grinned at Keith. "I'll become the best pilot for us."

Keith rolled his eyes. "And I'll become the best navigator for you. Let's go." 

Lance grinned. "For me? Aw, that’s so sweet!"

"Shove it, asshole."

"Whatever you say, mullet head."

"Keep my mullet out of it."

Lance laughed, "This is a bonding moment."

"You saying that ruined it."

Katie peeked up at them. "You guys coming anytime soon? You've been standing out there for, like, 5 minutes."

Lance pouted. "Keith called me an asshole."

"Keith," Katie admonished.

"Teach him a lesson for me, will you Pidgey-boo?"

"My name's Katie."

"I know. But, don't nicknames help us bond?" Lance smiled as he saw Katie relent. "I'll go ahead and hang up the uniforms."

Katie sighed as she nodded. "Fine. Just don't call me that in front of other people."

"Yeahhh!" Lance grinned in victory as he began to hang up their uniforms. "Keith and I will use this closet, then."

"Do whatever you want." 

"Lance!" Hunk grinned from where he was surrounded by garlic knots.

"That's a lot of garlic knots." Katie nodded excitedly. 

"It's to help us bond!"

"Why is everyone so obsessed with bonding?"

Katie frowned. "I'm not going to space with an asshole."

Keith put his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine. What exactly does bonding entail?"

"Sharing our secrets, of course," Hunk said. "There's no way to get closer to someone than to know their secrets."

That was how, twenty minutes later, Keith found himself squished between Hunk and Lance, in a pillow fort, smushing garlic knots into his face. 

"My secret," Lance said, swallowing, "is that I hate being in new places. Especially if I'm alone."

"Mine is loud noises. And fast cars. And tigers." Hunk frowned while counting his fingers. "I have, like, twelve more."

"Mine," Keith looked up to see Katie stuffing two garlic knots in her mouth.

"You coward, do three," Lance interrupted her, watching as she struggled to chew.

"Don't choke," Hunk said worriedly, grabbing a water bottle just in case.

"My secret," She finally said after her airway was freed, "is that I hate space. But I'm still here, so..." She shrugged, letting her voice trail off as she grabbed another garlic knot.

"I'm gay." 

Katie started laughing. "Jesus, Keith, you sound so monotonous."

"Get some emotion into your voice, mullet head."

"Would you like me to make rainbow garlic knots next time?"

Hunk looked up at him expectedly as Keith froze. 

"That's it?"

"You know," Katie started, grabbing another two garlic knots, "Not all coming outs end badly."

Lance looked up. "What happened?"

She waved him off. "I ended up having to bite them."

Keith snickered as he saw Hunk and Lance's horrified faces.

"They had to get stitches after that." He added, watching as Hunk gaped.

"Damn, Pidgey-boo," Lance finally managed to say. 

Katie laughed, biting into a garlic knot. "Hunk, I don't think I got to tell you, but these are so fucking good."

"Yeah, they taste like my mom's." Lance grinned at Hunk.

"Help, please," Keith looked up to see Katie trying to brush her hair away. "I don't want to wash my hands, can someone tie up my hair?"

"I can," Keith watched as Lance got up. "I'll go wash my hands and bring your brush."

Lance appeared a few minutes later, carrying a brush and some rubber bands. "Hold still."

Hunk and Keith watched in fascination as Lance expertly brushed and braided her hair, tying it up in loops and clipping her bangs to the side.

"All done." At Keith's questioning gaze, he explained, "My younger brother, Luis, liked to grow his hair out, so I learned some tricks to keep his hair out of his face."

Hunk started to pick up the empty trays. "I'll go ahead and wash these. Keith, you and Lance should unpack your stuff.

Lance grabbed his bags, and Keith noticed a half-peeling sticker stuck to the underside of one of them. 

"What's that?" Lance lifted the bag and saw the sticker.

"Ah," his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "I think my brothers stuck that on. It's a sticker from one of the shows they like."

Keith snorted. How cute.

They filled their closet with relative silence, broken only by Hunks shrieks as they found another spider. Or something like that. A lot of things freaked out Hunk.

"We should probably get to bed," Keith said, checking the clock. "It's almost ten." Lance hummed in agreement, standing up to stretch. Keith tried not to look as his shirt lifted up, exposing a thin stretch of skin.

_He has a nice face_ , he mused to himself. _And his personality is... likable. Sort of._

As he pulled himself to bed, he thought to himself, _what the fuck is wrong with me?_

It couldn't be love. Maybe curiosity? He glanced to where Lance was pulling on his pajamas, staring shamelessly as his back came into view.

Lance saw and grinned as he pulled on a tight-fitting shirt.

Definitely curiosity.

By the time the lights turned off, the four of them were in bed, sheets wrapped tightly around them as the temperature slowly dropped.

"Damn," Keith heard Katie say. "Why is it so cold?"

"An experiment?"

"No sane person would experiment with the temperature at night, Lance. Unless they want to get murdered."

Lance snorted. "What a nice way to go."

Hunk sighed. "It's cold."

Keith pulled himself up, stretching as he walked towards the door. "I'll go check it out."

"Wait, let me come." Lance scrambled after him, almost tripping twice. "It would be sad if you died before we could fly together."

"I'm more worried about you."

"How sweet, my love."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Of course not! It's to help us bond."

"I would rather be called mullet head." Keith turned the corner, heading to where he remembered the thermostat to be from the numerous floor plans he had Katie had studied.

Lance gasped. "I would make a great husband."

"I'm sure you would." Keith looked up as another cadet, James Griffin, approached them. "It's really cold."

"No shit," he muttered, moving past him. Lance stared questioningly as he stalked off towards his destination. 

"I'm glad someone sees my potential." James snorted, his breath coming out in puffs. 

Keith rolled his eyes, raising the temperature from 62 to 74. 

"Let's go," he grabbed Lance's arm and dragged him back to their room.

"Are you gonna explain what happened?"

Keith shrugged.

"Okay."

They got back into bed, losing sheets as the temperature rose and the night wore on.

\--

Keith woke up at precisely 6:32. He knew this because of the glowing green light that had greeted him as his face got hit with the morning sunlight.

"You awake?" Keith squinted upwards as Lance's head popped out. "We can try to make curtains if you want."

"Yeah, sure." Keith pulled himself out of bed, stumbling as his feet got caught on the sheets. "Shit."

Lance slid down, helping him to untangle the sheets. Keith glanced down as Lance worked to untangle the sheets, and wished he hadn't. 

Lance was wearing his uniform. It was covered in wrinkles from where he had climbed back into his bunk and the buttons weren't properly attached. And when he leaned forward, and god, all Keith could see was his chest. 

Curiosity. That's all it was. Really.

By the time Katie and Hunk had woken up, Keith was dressed and ready to go, and Lance had ironed out his shirt.

"Good morning, Pidgey-boo," Lance said as he dragged her, kicking and screaming, to the bathroom. "I laid your clothes out for you! Take a shower before you put them on!"

Keith watched in amusement as Lance proceeded to do the same to Hunk while gaining significantly less physical damage.

"You wrinkled your uniform again," Keith laughed, pointing out the creases. 

"Fuck you, too." 

Katie left the bathroom dressed in her uniform, rubbing her eyes as another yawn escaped her lips.

"We have another hour before classes start, " Lance told her, helping Hunk into the bathroom and pulling out two cups of milk. Drink up." 

"Why are you in a big brother mood?" Katie looked up suspiciously.

"Because if I didn't you guys would probably die." Lance leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Now, let me make sure Hunk didn't fall asleep in the shower."

"Everything he does oozes brotherly love. Disgusting." Katie shook her head before drinking the milk. "Oh, chocolate. Yum."

Keith frowned. "He didn't get me anything."

"That's because I trust that you can pour your own glass of milk without dying. Unless you want me to pour you a glass of milk?"

Keith shook his head, getting up to go search for the coffee machine.

"I want coffee!" Katie said, perking up as she saw Keith pull out the old machine.

"No."

Hunk stumbled out of the bathroom, falling asleep again as Lance helped to button up his uniform.

"Classes will begin in thirty minutes. I repeat, classes will begin in thirty minutes." The automated voice filtered throughout their room, jarring Katie and Hunk awake.

"I'm awake. I swear." Hunk blinked harshly a few times, before sending a weak grin to Lance. "Thanks." 

"No problem. Now drink up," Lance looked over to where Keith was pouring out some coffee in a mug. "Can you pour me a cup too? I've been up since the ass crack of dawn." Lance paused, contemplating for a moment. "I'll try to put together a curtain tonight."

Keith wordlessly handed him a mug watching as his eyes blinked faster with each sip he took.

"I'm going to crash so fucking badly after this, but screw it." Lance finished the mug in less than ten seconds, looking more awake than ever.

Keith sipped slowly, feeling the caffeine hit his veins. "It'll take us different times to get to where we need to be. Lance, you should probably leave first. You're down in the basement, right?"

"Shit, yeah. I'm gonna run then. See you guys!" Lance grabbed a worn satchel and ran out, trying to beat the clock. Keith winced as he thought about the stairs Lance would have to climb.

"Hunk, you have five minutes before you should start to head out. You too, Pidgey."

They grumbled, but stood up and got their things together. 

"Your classes are close by, so you two should go together. It's room numbers T-328 and T-412. Don't get lost, okay? I'm counting on you, Pidge!"

Katie groaned, slouching as she began to slink towards the door, Hunk on her heels, looking just as dead.

Keith smiled. Everything felt so fucking domestic. He liked it. The simplicity, the happiness. It felt nice. 

Glancing at the clock, he began to gather his things, walking out the door at exactly 8:46. He walked slowly, memorizing the route as he followed the twisting hallways, eventually ending up in front of room I-376.

Opening the door, he was surprised to only see two others there.

"Commander Iverson isn't here yet." The boy, a little older than Keith, with bright, blonde hair gave an uncertain smile, before going back to stare out of the window.

Keith nodded and chose a seat at the very back of the classroom, where a corner formed. He watched the clock tick on, 8:50, 8:52, 8:58. At 9:00 sharp, the door swung open, revealing Commander Iverson. 

"Hello, Cadets." He nodded at them. "I'm glad to see you're all here on time today. Now, let's get started. As navigators, your main focus is to keep track of where your pilot is going. Navigators play a crucial role during space expeditions. You make mark courses for the pilot to follow, making sure that they avoid every possible collision course."

"Our lesson will begin tomorrow. However, to prepare you for that, tonight, with your teammates, I want you to choose one sector of space that has been marked on this map." He gestured towards a map that took up an entire wall. There were colored areas, with labels messily slapped on top.

"Your teammates are currently receiving similar instructions. Whichever section of space you choose is where your first qualification test will take place. Before you leave, I'm going to give you a simple assessment that will help me gauge your knowledge of space."

Commander Iverson passed around maps to them. "Mark a basic course through this specific asteroid belt. Once you finish, you may turn it into me and leave."

Keith ran a hand through his hair, sighing as looked at the piece of paper that Commander Iverson had given him as he left. He meandered through a crowd of people, ducking through archways and weaving through tight spots. 

_Needed skills for Navigators:_

_Basic piloting skills_

_Navigation skills_

_Course charting skills_

_Basic knowledge of astronomy_

This was bullshit. Keith sighed deeply through his nose as he approached his room. Crouching down for the optical scan, he entered, finding Lance, Pidge, and Hunk all sitting on the floor. There was a mess of maps and star charts surrounding them.

"Keith!" Hunk waved. "Glad you're back, man. How was your first class?"

"Pretty good, I guess. What about you guys?"

"Great! I was able to get started on some new devices that can help our plane run smoothly. Hopefully, by the end of this year, I can make a plane for us to use!"

Lance nodded. "I was able to get a run on the flight simulator. We're getting there, team!"

Keith smiled as Pidge cheered. 

"What are you guys doing?" Lance looked up from a map of Mars.

"We're trying to think about a good place for our first qualification test." Lance sighed as he tossed the paper in the air, watching it slowly twirl back down.

"Maybe Jupiter." Keith searched through the maps, before finding a suitable chart. "I was thinking, if we could choose a place where all of our talents shine, we'll have a higher chance of getting chosen for an exploration quest."

He pointed out a dark spot to them. "The Great Red Spot. Also known as Jupiter's eye. This spot is a high-pressure place. It's an ever-moving disturbance that most pilots avoid because of the high pressure and the anticyclonic storm. If we go through a specific path through the asteroid belt, we'll be able to make it to Jupiter in no time.

"If any problems do arise, we'll have me to rechart a course, if needed, and Pidge and Hunk to help with repairs. Between all of us, I think that we could pull it off." 

Lance shook his head. "I can see us doing it," He admitted, "But my piloting skills are going to have to be better for us to be able to successfully do this." 

Pidge frowned. "We have ten months before the first qualification test, we'll be fine. From what I can tell, getting us through the asteroid belt is going to be the hardest part."

Hunk stared at the picture of Jupiter, thinking. "What if... what if we land at the edge of the storm?" 

"What do you mean?" Pidge leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the picture.

"You said the storm keeps moving, right?"

Keith nodded. "Every six days or so."

"What if... we time our test so that we land at the last possible minute. That way, even if there are any complications, we'll at least be able to make a clean landing. That's what counts, right?"

Lance nodded. "I can work with that."

"I'll start studying up on the storm, I think I'll be able to start charting a course next month at the latest. I'll also start talking to Commander Iverson about the test date."

Pidge nodded. "I can't really do anything during this test. All the equipment is virtual, so I can't fix anything. I guess I'll help Hunk."

"Virtual problems are a thing. I think. But I'll take your help."

Keith grinned. "Great. I'm tired." He collapsed on his bed, complying as Lance softly began to take off his uniform.

"At least change before you sleep."

Keith waved him off. "I'm crashing."

Lance snorted. "I should be saying that, dumbass."

Keith hummed before he felt his eyes close.

\--

When Keith woke up again, it was 7:30, and the room was shrouded in darkness. He looked up to where the window was and found it covered in what seemed to be a patchwork of other fabrics. Keith grinned as he got up, silently slipping into the bathroom to start his day.

When he got back, he found Lance sitting on the floor, asleep with his head on Keith's bed.

"Lance," Keith whispered, trying to wake him up. "Lance."

"Mhm," Lance mumbled something unintelligible, before shifting his body and turning away from Keith. Cute. 

"Come on," He lifted Lance, trying to drag him back to bed.

Lance clutched him, hooking his legs against his hips, causing Keith to fall on top of him. Lance slowly blinked, opening his eyes. 

"Hello there." He pressed himself up against Keith and kissed his cheek. "Good morning." Then he slipped out from underneath him and walked to the bathroom like nothing happened.

"Dude. I can sense your gayness from here. Jesus. No fucking in front of minors." Pidge was grinning from her bunk.

Keith rolled his eyes. "We're all minors here." He leaned back, feeling his cheek burn with the sensation of being kissed. It felt nice and tingly. 

"What time is it?" Hunk rolled over, squinting at the clock before giving up.

"It's- oh shit it's eight already." Pidge scrambled down the bunk, stripping as she entered the bathroom. "We're showering together or else we won't make it on time."

Keith snorted, listening as Lance and Pidge began to argue. He got out four cups and filled two with coffee, and filled the other two with chocolate milk. Hunk dragged himself to the bathroom, joining the other two.

"Jesus fuck. You don't enter the bathroom while someone's showering. It's not polite!" Lance angrily thanked Keith before taking one of the coffee filled cups. 

"It's almost 8:30." Lance looked up, eyes widening as he drank the entire cup in one sip.

"Fuck, I shouldn't have put up the curtain. I'm going to go, make sure the other two leave on time. Bye!" With that, Lance left, picking up his bag and running out.

Pidge poked her head out of the bathroom, "Did Lance leave already?"

Keith nodded. "It's almost 8:40. You guys should probably hurry up."

"Shit. Hunk! Hurry up or we're gonna be late!"

By the time the three of them left, it was already 8:53. Keith walked at a quick pace through the hallways, bumping into Commander Iverson outside of the room.

"Commander Iverson, I've been meaning to speak with you, sir."

"Already? I hope you aren't thinking about dropping out." Keith shuddered at the menacing tone and shook his head.

"No, sir. My team and I have decided on a quadrant for our qualification test. We wanted to know if we could choose a date for our test."

Commander Iverson raised his eyebrows. "Have you? I'll talk with the other instructors and see what they think." He held the door open for Keith, watching as he took a seat in the back corner.

"Today, and for the next few months, we'll be giving you basic piloting training,” Iverson announced to the class. “If you would follow me, please."

The Navigators followed him, going deeper into The Garrison as they meandered through hallways and stairs. They finally found themselves in front of a heavy-looking pair of doors.

Commander Iverson knocked twice, and Adam opened the door, grinning as he saw them. "Welcome. Navigators, please find and stand next to your pilots."

Adam stepped aside, revealing rows and rows of Cadets of all ranks. Keith stared, lost.

"Keith!" Keith grinned as he heard Lance calling his name. He walked over to where Lance was waving, coming to a stop in front of a flight simulator. "I'm going to be teaching you today." Lance smiled as he gestured for Keith to sit in the pilot's chair.

"There's no need for that. My Dads taught me." Lance raised his eyebrows before starting up the simulator.

"Let's see what you've got, then, mullet head."

The chair vibrated as the simulator started up, and Keith pulled on the yoke. 

He finished the simulation with a score of 57,318,467 points. Lance beamed in pride when he saw. "Second highest score," he mused. "Not bad."

Keith snorted. "Would it kill you to praise me?" 

"A little. But if you want, I'll praise you all you want once we get back to our room."

Keith rolled his eyes, choosing not to think about the implications. "Whatever, dumbass."

Once they finished the simulation, they were allowed to leave.

"When you get a score of 100,000,000, I'll fill out your form." Lance grinned as Keith glared at him.

"Why not now?" 

Lance shrugged. "Your score was really good, but it's not the best that you can do."

Keith huffed. "Fine. What about my praise?"

Lance laughed. "So impatient, we aren't at our room yet."

Keith frowned, definitely not pouting, "Then hurry up."

They had barely entered the room before Lance kissed him, deep and fierce, almost growling when they pulled apart. 

"More," Keith breathed, hooking his arms around Lance's neck. "More."

Instead of answering, Lance just kissed him again, which Keith had no qualms about. 

Lance began to move them towards his bed, pushing them both down into a comfortable position. "I would love to fuck you right now."

"Me too. I would really like that, too," Lance groaned, pushing his face into Keith's neck.

"Stop tempting me, you damn devil."

Keith smirked, slowly stroking Lance's hair. "Unfortunately, I'm horny. So, fuck me."

Lance snorted, "I wish I could, but Pidge and Hunk can return at any time, and I would rather them not see you naked."

Keith definitely pouted this time. "Meani-" Keith was cut off by Lance kissing him again, his hands finding home in his hair.

"Pull my hair out and I won't be fucking you," Lance said before kissing up his jawline. Keith immediately loosened his grip, breathy moans escaping him as Lance found that spot. 

"Well hello to you too." Keith looked over Lance's shoulder and saw Pidge enter. "Hunk will be here in five minutes."

"Okay," was all Keith had time to reply before he was moaning again. 

Lance kissed up, whispering in his ear, "I'll finish you later, okay?"

Keith almost groaned with how close he was, but he relented. "That's a promise, right?" He internally winced at how needy he sounded.

Lance chuckled. "Yes, that's a promise." He kissed Keith one last time before he got up, holding out his hand for him to take. "Go start the shower, I'll be there in five minutes."

Keith headed in the direction of the bathroom, feeling Lance's gaze on his hard-on. Grinning cheekily, he locked the bathroom door behind him, making sure that Lance heard it.

Lance groaned. "He's killing me."

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare fuck in the bathroom. Other people use it too, you horny bastards."

Lance hummed, staring at the bathroom door. "How can I get him to unlock the door?"

"Wait until he comes back out."

Lance wrinkled his nose. "That's going to take too long."

The bathroom door clicked, and Lance ran over, stripping as he entered.

"I can taste the sexual tension, godammit."

\--

Pidge looked up at the clock. 

"They are _so_ fucking in there."

"What?" Hunk looked over from where he was making pasta.

"Keith and Lance. I walked in on them making out, and now they're fucking in the bathroom."

"Oh."

"Do you think that it's too late to request a room change?"

"Probably."

"I can't believe that they were worried about them fucking me. Jesus."

"Pidge. Let's just make the pasta, please."

"Fine, fine."

They worked in silence for another forty minutes before the bathroom door opened, Keith and Lance stumbling out.

"You guys are glowing. Did something happen?"

"Shut up Pidgey-boo."

"We're having pasta for dinner." 

"Do you need help?" Keith untangled himself from Lance and headed over to the stove where Hunk was boiling the water.

"Nope. I think you'll like it."

"If you made it, then I'm sure I'll enjoy it." 

Hunk grinned, refocusing his attention back to the pot of water.

"I'm going to go and start charting a course to get us past the asteroid belt. Any suggestions?"

Pidge shook her head. "I wish I could help, but," She trailed off, shrugging.

"Okay, call me if you need me." Keith walked over to his bunk, where he spread out the space charts. 

Lance appeared beside him, looking at the star charts. "Tomorrow, we're going to do the flight simulator again. We're not going to stop until you get at least 68,000,000 points."

Keith nodded, uncapping a marker with his teeth, before scribbling down notes along the edges of the map. "I'm sure no matter what score I get we'll be fine."

Lance shrugged. "Maybe. But you can't be too sure." He looked over his shoulder to see Pidge struggling to roll out the dough. "I'll go help out Pidge. Call me if you need me." With one last touch to his hair, Lance left, ducking into the kitchen.

Keith frowned, barely noticing as he studied the charts closely. "Pidge, do you have any- uh, holograms of the asteroid belt?"

"Yeah. Let me help you. I'm shit at rolling out dough." She handed the dough to Lance, before washing her hands and rummaging through her section of the closet. "Here. It's more of a projection than a hologram though."

"That's fine." Keith powered on the sphere, looking closely as it replicated the asteroids on his charts. "Hey, Lance. Next time you go on the flight simulator, can you try picking an area with asteroids?"

"Yeah. I'll do that." Lance agreed as he was kneading the dough.

Keith hummed as he began to outline certain places on the charts, taking great care to try and map out the places with the most space.

"Dinner's ready!" Hunk called, carrying bowls towards the table. "Keith! Come eat!"

"Coming!" Keith capped his marker, taking care to stack the charts back into a neat pile. 

As they began to eat, showering Hunk with praises, they talked about their day. It was therapeutic, in a way, to laugh with them as they talked about mundane things. Keith felt high, like he was already nestled between the stars.

\--

As the weeks passed on, Keith began to focus more and more of his time on his charts. He and Lance still fucked regularly, each time leaving Keith sore and filled- but satisfied, and his piloting skills were definitely improving. 

Last week had been their last meeting, since Keith had scored 124,076,389 points, still second to Lance's new and improved score of 238,976,532.

By the time Commander Iverson had agreed for them to choose the date for their test, there were only two months left.

"April 21." Keith pointed towards the picture of Jupiter they had taped up. "That's when we should fly. I think I have the final course charted." 

The others agreed, pulling out their own charts and diagrams to compare. Lance draped his arms across his shoulders, pulling him to his chest. 

Ever since they became 'Fuck Buddies' as Pidge had put it, Lance had been way more touchy, always having a hand on him. Keith loved it. Being starved for human contact made him clingy and needy, not that he always acted on those impulses.

Leaning his head against Lance's chest, Keith spoke up, "How many points are we going for?"

"Five million," Pidge said, grabbing a nearby device that glowed in a strange green color. "I looked in the database, _not on purpose, Hunk_. I accidentally found it when I was looking for something else. They expect five million points, at least, if you want to be considered for the space expedition they are planning to launch in June. They're calling it the Kerberos mission."

"Let's go for six million." Hunk looked up as everyone looked at him. "They're expecting five million, right? Let's blow their expectations so they have to choose us."

"Good point. We'll be among the stars, soon."

"Soon."

Lance grinned down at Keith.

"Less than two months, we've got this!"

"Hell yeah!" Pidge cheered.

\--

As April 21st rolled around, the entire school was buzzing with excitement. The first group of Junior Cadets were about to take their qualification tests. 

Qualification tests were tests used to determine if a group is ready to be sent on a space expedition. Depending on the number of points they accumulate they either keep their ranks, move up any number of ranks, or, in a one in a hundred situation, they get chosen to lead a space expedition.

Keith and Lance were laying on the bottom bunk together. "How do you feel?"

Lance shrugged. "I have a great team, so there's no need to worry."

Keith grinned. "And we have a great pilot."

Lance laughed. "You can praise me after we score six million points."

"You know, the only other people to have scored more than five million points during a qualification testing were my brother and Takashi."

"Oh yeah, I think Dad mentioned that."

Lance looked over at Keith in surprise. "Takashi Shirogane is your Dad?"

"One of my Dads, yeah."

"But your last name is Kogane."

"They let me change my last name before coming here."

"You realize that your Dad is, like, a god around here, right?"

"That's why I changed my last name."

"You know," Hunk spoke up, "Some of the other mechanics were saying that Adam and Shiro dated while they attended The Garrison."

Keith shrugged. "I never asked him."

Pidge glanced at the clock. "We should probably start getting ready. I'm showering first."

Hunk looked nervous. "I'm scared. And nervous. But mostly scared. Our plans all hinge on the fact that we have to score six million points. Six. Million."

"Lance and I can get a good four million together, and we'll try to bump into at least one asteroid so you and Pidge have a chance to showcase your talents."

Hunk laughed. "God, no. Try to keep us as the backup. we'll get more points if there's no need for repairs." 

"Team 21, you have two hours before your qualification test. I repeat, you have two hours before your qualification test."

"Does everyone have everything they need?"

"Yeah. They're gonna give us the tools there."

"Lance?"

"I can't carry a plane on me, unfortunately."

Pidge poked her head out of the bathroom. "Lance, I need help with my hair." 

"I'll shower next, then. Wanna join me?" Lance asked Keith, holding out his hand. 

"Sure."

"Dry your hair properly so I can braid it up, Pidgey-boo. I'll be out in twenty minutes."

"You better," She muttered. "If you're in there for even a second more, I'll cut both of your dicks off."

Lance winced, "Yeah, yeah. We'll be out before then."

As they left the bathroom, with 15 seconds to spare, another announcement came on.

"Team 16 and Team 12 will be taking their qualification test on April 22. I repeat: Team 16 and Team 12 will be taking their qualification test on April 22."

Pidge frowned as Lance began to comb out her hair. "I thought they were taking it in May?"

Hunk shrugged, grabbing a towel. "They probably want to get chosen for the Kerberos mission too."

Keith interjected, "But no matter when we take it, the results will only be announced a month before the mission."

"So May 10th, then."

"That's almost three weeks away!"

"Patience, Pidgey-boo. We'll get it, I'm sure of that."

"Why are you so optimistic?"

"Would you like me to say that we're going to fail?"

"No, just be a realist."

"Too boring."

"Team 21, you have forty-five minutes before your qualification test starts. I repeat, Team 21, you have forty-five minutes before your qualification test starts."

"Let's go, we have to be there at least thirty minutes early, remember?"

"You guys go on, I'll catch up." Hunk started buttoning up his uniform. "I'll take another five minutes to get ready." 

"I'll stay back, then," Pidge said, waiting near the door. "You two go ahead."

Keith frowned. "Shouldn't we arrive together?"

"It'll be fine. Stop stressing and go. Shoo, shoo."

"So pushy."

"Bye, Keith."

Keith and Lance watched as she closed the door, effectively ending the conversation.

"What room are we testing in?" Lance glanced down at his wrist, where he had scrawled U-235 sloppily. 

"Um, U," Lance squinted, bringing his wrist closer.

Keith sighed, pulling at his wrist to get a closer look. "U-235."

The door opened as Pidge walked through, Hunk following her. "You guys waited?"

Lance nodded. "Yeah. Let's go. we're in room U-235."

As they reached their destination, a small room housing one of the more expensive flight simulators, the overhead speaker blared.

"Welcome, Team 21." Keith recognized Commander Iverson's voice. "Please enter the Flight Simulator when you're ready."

He looked around at everyone. "Ready?"

Lance grimaced. "As I'll ever be, I guess."

"Hell yeah, let's do this!" Pidge skipped ahead and entered the simulator, Hunk following. 

"Ah- I don't want to do this." He said, slowly entering the machine.

"Let's go." Lance held out his hand, and Keith took it, smiling as they ducked and entered. 

The interior was modeled to look like the inside of a real plane. There was a screen where the front window would be showing the words:

_SIMULATION START?_

"Ready?" Lance looked around, one last time, as they all nodded. "Great. Then, let's start." 

They all took their places around the simulator, Lance and Keith were at the front, Pidge and Hunk were standing at the sides, ready to help if anything went wrong.

Lance put on the set of headphones that were draped over the console. "Simulation, Start."

Immediately, the plane began to shake, mimicking the actions of a takeoff. 

"Buckle up!" Lance began to steer the plane up, racing towards the stars and away from Earth. 

Keith grinned as the stars twinkled. "I'll put in the course I charted. Pidge, can I get some help?"

She nodded, working her way over to the navigation console. "How long will it take us to reach the belt?"

Lance glanced over. "20 minutes, maybe? It'll be smooth sailing until then."

He set the plane to autopilot, and the four of them huddled around the table that was placed in the middle of the floor. "We'll stop outside of the asteroid belt. Keith?"

"The plan is to go through here, almost 73 degrees north of Mars. We'll go through these two asteroids here. They’re the biggest ones in the area, so we'll be shielded for a portion of the way across. After we go past them, Lance will have to thread his way through this cluster of asteroids. After we get past those, we'll be good to go for the rest of the asteroid belt. Hunk, you're going to have to be on standby the entire way, in case we run into some problems."

Keith looked around. "Are we good to go?"

Pidge nodded. "Yeah. I'll be with Hunk. You two, don't crash the plane."

"Aye, aye captain," Lance mock saluted, and they dispersed, each going to their own space.

The ship stuttered to a stop, the asteroid belt overshadowing it. 

"Hunk, get ready." Lance pulled on the yoke, slowly sliding the ship between two of the largest asteroids Keith had ever seen. Granted, he'd never seen an asteroid, virtual or not, this close up.

They made it relatively scratch-free out of the asteroid belt, the automatic shield easily deflecting the smaller rocks that came their way. Lance did have a few close calls with some of the faster-moving asteroids, but there was nothing bad enough that Hunk needed to fix.

"A good three million points right there, I think," Pidge said, while sitting on the table. 

"Don't jinx it," Hunk groaned, his face filled with apprehension.

Keith rolled his eyes, smiling as he listened to them. "Jupiter's next." He sat down next to Lance, almost hanging off the edge of the chair.

Lance grinned as he pulled Keith onto his lap, effectively preventing him from falling. "Yeah." He threaded his fingers through his black hair, feeling the silky smoothness of it. "We're gonna be fine."

Keith snorted. "Of course we will be. Pidge would have already killed us if we weren't good enough."

Lance laughed. "That's good to know," he glanced back at the screen. "We have ten more minutes before I have to start piloting us down there. Let's cuddle."

"Jesus. We're in the middle of our fucking qualification test. Would it kill you to stop touching him for ten minutes?"

"Yes."

Keith blushed at Lance's response. He had answered immediately, his tone booking no room for argument. 

"Jesus." Pidge rolled her eyes. "If you're going to be like this, why don't you just grow some balls and ask him to date you."

"There's something called timing, Pidgey-boo. This isn't the place to ask something like that."

"You realize the first time you guys fucked was in the bathroom, right?"

"Shut up, Pidgey-boo."

Keith sighed. "You realize that I'm right here, right?"

Lance gave a noncommittal hum and hugged him tighter. "Forget everything that I said in the past two minutes."

Keith snorted. "That's not how it works, dumbass."

Lance glanced up. "Would you say yes, then?"

Keith turned away and looked at the stars. "Yeah."

"Then would you like to be my boyfriend?"

"I'd love to."

"So this means that we're dating, right?"

"Yeah, you dumbass."

Lance beamed at him. "Your dumbass."

"All mine."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Keith turned around to see Pidge pointing to them. "What happened to this isn't the place to ask something like that." Pidge made a purposefully bad imitation of Lance.

Keith laughed, "God, Pidge, that was awful."

"Uh, guys. First, finally Lance. Glad you manned up. Second, congratulations. Third of all you realize they can hear us right?" Hunk pointed to a small device that was blinking red.

Pidge looked up in confusion. "They?"

"The instructors."

Lance's face paled as Pidge muttered angrily, "There goes our three million points."

"Why are they listening?"

"Maybe they think we're trying to plot their deaths or something." Pidge shrugged. "Paranoia, I guess."

Hunk sighed, rubbing his face. "No, it's because they want to know how we think when we make decisions."

"Oh. That's easy. Lance just decides based on what Keith wants."

"God, Pidgey, stop."

"I told you not to call me that in front of other people."

"Jupiter!" Keith pointed to the screen, where the planet was steadily growing bigger. He got off of his boyfriend's lap and opened up the navigation screen. 

"Hunk, get ready. We're going in." Keith sat down at the navigator's seat, buckling in as Lance began to circle the planet. 

"There!" Pidge pointed to a dark spot on the planet. "The eye!"

"We're descending, team." Lance began to maneuver the plane down towards the storm. Hunk was getting his tools ready, eyeing the storm apprehensively. 

Once they were close enough to see the winds, Lance spoke. "We're going to be facing some heavy turbulence. Grab on to something."

The simulator began to shake, the vibrations agitating Keith's head. "Strong westward winds are heading to the North. Let's go towards the South."

Lance nodded, shifting the plane until they were almost parallel with the storm. "Left or right?"

Keith glanced up at the navigation screen. "Left."

The plane began to descend, heavy winds battering its side. The noise was loud, and Hunk flinched, almost dropping his wrench. A red light began to blink on the left side of the simulator.

"Hunk!" Pidge yelled. "The left-wing is down!" 

"On it." Hunk unstrapped himself and opened up the left-side panel.

The vibrations increased the closer they got to the storm.

"We're barely past the atmosphere." Keith squinted, trying to see the screen properly. "Land a little bit more to the left." 

Lance grimaced but focused on following his orders. The vibrations were increasing in both frequency and intensity, and Keith couldn't remember a time when his head had hurt so much. 

The screen began to flicker, the storm fading into static. "Pidge," Lance yelled.

"I'm here," She kneeled in front of the console and began to work, connecting devices to it, trying to reboot it.

"Keep going left." Keith directed Lance. He looked back at his charts. "In about two point five miles we'll be reaching a point-break area. The vibrations will stop for a minute, at most. You'll need to turn to the right and keep going down like you're landing."

"Got it." Lance screwed his face up as another vibration hit them.

"Guys, the right-wing is failing!"

Keith looked at Hunk, seeing three red lights blinking. "Can you hold it together for another few minutes? We should be landing in about five minutes."

Hunk nodded uncertainty. "I'll do what I can."

Keith turned back around, unstrapping himself and stumbling over to one of the numerous side panels. Grabbing the navigation screen, he plugged it into the emergency battery pack, watching with relief as the screen blinked back to life. 

"Lance!" Keith's head was throbbing, like someone was taking an awl and cracking his head open. "Turn right! Right!" the vibrations stopped for a few seconds, and that's all Lance needed to steer the plane right, almost sighing in relief when the simulator begins to shake and the flashing words: 

_SIMULATION FINISH!_ appeared on the screen.

Pidge laughed, "We did it!" She turned towards Hunk. "How's the damage?"

Hunk grinned back weakly. "Nothing fell apart, at least."

The door to the simulator opened with a hiss, revealing the instructors.

"Good job." Commander Iverson stepped forward. "We, as Hunk said, we were watching and listening to you. Keith, you showed great leadership skills, especially during the landing."

Admiral Sanda spoke up, "Lance, you showed great piloting skills. Your ability to keep flying, while only relying on your Navigators instructions was amazing."

"Pidge and Hunk," Veronica addressed them. "Your abilities were amazing. The way you two managed to hold the plane together until the end truly shows your skills."

"I do believe a congratulation is in order." Adam nodded towards Keith and Lance. "I hope you two will be happy together."

Keith's face turned red as Pidge started to laugh.

"We will be." Lance smiled at him, holding out his hand for him to take.

Keith took it, slowly pulling himself up. "How did you do the vibrations?"

Veronica shrugged. "State of the art technology, I guess. Also, congratulations."

Keith blushed, ducking his head. "Thanks." 

\-- 

The four of them were watching a movie. Keith wasn't sure which one it was- all he could feel were Lance's hands on his skin, going higher and lower, touching him everywhere except for where he wanted to be touched.

"Asshole."

"Don't fuck in front of me or Hunk."

"Fine, we'll go back to our room."

"We'll sleep here then."

"Okay." 

Lance pulled Keith towards their room, smirking once he saw how close Keith was. 

"You know what I think?" Lance whispered into Keith's ear. "I think you have a praise kink."

Keith blushed, looking away. "You may be right." He admitted. 

Lance laughed. "So cute." He leaned in to kiss him, taking the time to shower Keith lavishly with praise and love. 

By the time they made it to Keith's bed, he was already whining for more. 

And really, when could Lance ever deny him anything?

\--

After taking their qualification test, the four of them had taken turns showering and had settled in to watch a movie that Pidge had found in the corner of the closet. Keith and Lance had left halfway through to go fuck each other, and now, as the Junior cadets were being called to the cafeteria to announce the results, Keith wished he could go back to that time where he was being fucked, instead of sweating buckets of anxiety.

The four of them filed in with the other Cadets, watching as Commander Iverson, Admiral Sanda, Adam, and Veronica climbed up onto the same podium they had months ago, back when they were all new and lost within The Garrison.

"Welcome, Junior Cadets. Today, we will be announcing which team will be able to take on our newest Space expedition: The Kerberos Mission!" A collective cheer went up at the mention of a new expedition. Commander Iverson grinned as he stepped back, letting Admiral Sanda take his place.

"This team has shown exemplary teamwork, not just during the qualification testing, but also during every other activity they have had to do."

Adam stepped forward. "It is with great pleasure that we announce the team that will be taking on the Kerberos mission is-"

"Team 21!" Veronica finished for him, clapping in pride as Lance grinned at Keith.

"We're going to space!" Pidge yelled, jumping onto Keith.

"Yeah, we are!" 

Hunk grinned, hugging Lance. "God, we did it!"

"I told you, didn't I, Hunky-boo?"

Hunk laughed.

\--

One month later, the four of them, now in the position of Senior Cadets, entered the East Hanger. 

"Space!" Pidge jumped using her arms to explain herself. "It's up there! We're going up there!"

Keith laughed, "You've said that, like, twelve times already."

Lance grinned, holding Keith's hand, listening to him talk with Pidge.

"We're going to Space, for real this time." Hunk looked confused, as if unsure how they ended up here.

"Yup. After one month of extensive training, we're about to-"

"Embark on the greatest adventure ever!" Pidge grinned as she interrupted Lance. "And, we're going as a team."

Lance rolled his eyes. "That's because we are a team, Pidgey."

"I'm so excited!" Pidge twirled around, her hair flying around her.

"Want me to do your hair before we board?"

Pidge shook her head. "Nope, I'm just going to wear it in a ponytail for today."

Lance shrugged before turning to his boyfriend. 

Keith grinned at him as they got closer to their spacecraft. "We're going to see space. Together!" Lance smiled, unable to stop the lovestruck expression from flitting across his face. 

"You guys are like the textbook definition of lovestruck idiots." Pidge stuck her tongue out at them before skipping ahead, waiting for the elevator to come and take her to the landing dock.

"Did she drink coffee again?"

"No way, I hid the coffee machine after what happened last time."

"She's just excited, I think." Hunk, Keith, and Lance watched as she hummed to herself while twirling. "She looks happy."

"That's the important thing, right?"

"Oh! She told me, before we applied to The Garrison, that her dad used to tell her that one day, she would find her own crew, and do great things with them. So, I guess, for her, this is like a dream come true."

"We'll be the best teammates for her, then!"

"Hurry up!" Pidge waved at them as the elevator began to descend. They ran, trying to get in before the doors closed. "You fucking slowpokes." Pidge frowned, "If you had missed the elevator, I would have left without you guys." 

"Sure you would have, Pidgey-boo." She frowned again, before kicking Lance in the shins.

"I would have."

Keith laughed, kissing Lance as he pouted.

"You're not allowed to do anything romantic during this trip. If you even think about fucking, I will shove you into space. Got it?"

Keith and Lance nodded, hiding their conjoined hands behind them. 

"Good." 

The elevator let out a pleasant ding as they reached the landing dock. They awkwardly shuffled around as they got off and waited for the plane to get opened. 

"I hope you will have a successful trip." Commander Iverson stepped out of the plane, smiling as he said, "It's all ready."

Admiral Sanda appeared, grinning. "I would say good luck, but you would just brush me off. Veronica and Adam couldn't make it, unfortunately. They send you their best wishes. Especially Veronica. Be safe out there."

Lance grinned back. "Of course we will, Admiral, Commander. We'll see you in a few weeks." 

They entered the spacecraft, a tiny plane filled to the brim with gadgets and screens. 

"It's pretty small," Pidge noted. 

"It's bigger than the simulator, though." Hunk said, wincing as his head hit the top. "Barely." 

"Now I bet you wish you were short." Pidge posed super-hero style as Hunk watched her.

"Not really, no."

Keith laughed, "Come on, let's get strapped in."

He and Lance took the seats at the front, and Hunk and Pidge took the seats connected to the side panels. They all put on the headphones that were on their seats, checking their mic and audio quality before take-off.

"You guys ready?" Admiral Sanda's voice crackled through the headsets.

"I think so." Lance looked back. "Are we ready?" 

"Yeah." Pidge's voice filtered through.

"No, not really. But let's go." 

Lance looked over at Keith.

"Simulation?"

"Start."

They grinned, and Lance pulled the yoke. The ship began to vibrate, getting ready for take-off.

The hangers ceiling opened up, letting the sun peek in for the first time in months.

3

Keith plugged the coordinates into his navigation screen.

2

The engines roared to life, the buzzing sound settling into the back of his skull.

1

Lance pulled on the yoke.

_Takeoff_

The spacecraft slowly moved off the ground, hovering over the ground. 

Lance pushed the yoke forward, and the spacecraft started to rise, slowly going higher and higher. Pidge wiggled in her seat, craning her neck to see below them.

"Good luck, Kerberos Team. Come back home safely." Admiral Sanda's voice clicked off as the spacecraft left the hanger. 

Keith smiled, watching The Garrison shrink, quickly growing to resemble a dollhouse. 

"Let's not go back," Pidge said, her face still pressed against the glass. "We'll do the mission, then just," She trailed off. "Not come back. Let's explore space."

Lance grinned at her. "We'll ask them if we can stay as a permanent exploration team. If they say no, we'll just steal a ship."

Hunk grimaced. "What if they can hear us right now?"

Pidge grinned. "That just makes it easier for us. Let us stay in space!"

Keith chuckled, swiveling in his chair to look at her. "They won't like that."

Pidge grumbled. "When do those uptight bastards like anything we do?"

"They seemed pretty happy when we got the mission." Hunk pointed out. 

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because they _benefit_ from it, Hunky."

"We'll be leaving Earth in about two minutes. Any last words?"

"Thank god."

Lance laughed as Pidge turned back around to look out of the window. "Can you go faster?"

Lance smirked, before pulling the yoke up. The spacecraft started picking up speed, ripping through the Earth's atmosphere until they were surrounded by stars.

"Why didn't you do this first?" Pidge looked out, eagerly scanning the stars.

"The asteroid belt is next. You know what to do." Keith pointed out the two large asteroids they passed during their qualification test.

"Aye, aye, captain."

They passed the asteroid belt with no difficulties, each move having been drilled in their heads.

"Next up, Pluto."

"What's Kerberos like?" Pidge asked, straining her neck to try and see past Jupiter.

Hunk shrugged. "It's like the moon, I guess. But with possible alien life."

"And smaller," Keith piped up from the front. "It's been under speculation for years, actually. My Dad and Matt were on the first expedition that went to Kerberos. Their original goal was to prove that there was alien life living there. When they couldn't find any evidence either proving or disproving that theory, they began to drill through the surface, and eventually, they found ice. After they brought it back, The Garrison was able to find that, when it melted, it turned into water. Except the water is poisonous to humans. Some animals like certain species of amphibians and reptiles were able to safely drink it."

"The Garrison assumed that the alien species have a molecular make-up close to those of the reptile family. When the team came back, they also reported multiple caverns running underneath the ice. They also found what they believed to be claw and teeth marks. Some scientists believe those are just the fissures formed from the cracking of ice, and both sides have pretty good arguments, so it remains a controversial topic."

Hunk nodded, "But, if there is alien life on that planet, why are we going there?"

"To collect more samples. We need to collect some more ice and try to get photographs of the claw marks, if there are any." Keith explained.

"But we don't know anything about this so-called alien life. They could view us as a threat and kill us." Hunk looked worried as he nervously played with his fingers.

"I guess The Garrison decided that it's our problem." 

Lance glanced back. "I'm sure, even if there are life forms on there, they probably stay in the caverns. Kerberos is one of the coldest places in the Milky Way. Either they'd be hiding in the caverns all day, or they would have evolved enough to travel around."

They passed Jupiter, it's storm a safe distance away for them to sit and stare for some time. 

"We're here, seeing this in person, but it looks the same as it did in the simulation." Pidge frowned. "I was hoping for something more," She did jazz hands, "I don't know- brighter? Shinier?"

"I think they may have sent a space drone or something to manipulate and copy our movements. So, if we crashed, it would too. They could also bring it back and assess for damage. It could have been recording what it was seeing, and sending that to the screen of the simulator."

Pidge nodded when Lance finished. "Sounds like something The Garrison would do." 

"There's Neptune." Keith pointed out. "Pluto should be pretty close by, then."

"It's there!" Hunk squinted at a dark shape hidden halfway behind the other planetoid. "I think. I can't really make out what it is."

"Let's find out, then." Lance pushed the yoke, speeding the spacecraft past the stars and planets. A small, white shape soon appeared.

"Kerberos!" 

"Let's land!"

Lance grinned as the moon came into view. "Ready to land?"

Keith hummed. "It'll be better than our last landing, at least."

The vibrations started up as Lance began to descend toward Kerberos. Unlike with Jupiter, these vibrations were quick to disappear as they landed and didn't hurt Keith's head as much.

As the spacecraft fully landed, Keith unstrapped himself, digging through one of the drawers, looking for the spacesuits. 

"Two people should go first, while the other two stay in here. We can switch after three hours."

Pidge nodded. "Then Hunk and I will stay back first and check for any damage."

Lance nodded as he accepted a spacesuit and began to put it on. 

"Are we good?" Keith turned around to let Hunk help him with his oxygen tank.

"Yeah," Lance's voice buzzed through his earpiece. "We'll be connected through the headphones, so keep them on."

Pidge gave them a thumb up as they walked into a separate room. They closed the door, making sure that the airtight lock was on, and finally, descended the ship, landing on Kerberos.

Keith felt like he was floating. Here he was, finally in space surrounded by stars and Lance and he felt _free._

Lance grinned at him before pulling out a specially-made knife and some test cases. "Ready to start?" 

They had to walk a few miles East of their landing area. All of the former Kerberos expeditions had taken pieces of the ice they were walking towards, and The Garrison had been extremely adamant that they bring back the same ones.

As they walked towards the location, Pidge updated them about the conditions of the ship. 

"It's worse than we thought. We had a relatively easy landing, so we assumed that there would be any damage," She trailed off, "But, I think there was a mix of wavelengths. We aren't sure which ones caused the damage, but there's no way we'll be able to take off for about five hours. Any news from your side?"

Keith frowned. "What's been damaged?" 

"The navigation board and certain parts of the console. It's nothing unfixable. Now, tell me some good news."

"Um, well- we haven't reached the location yet. We're almost there, though. I can kind of see the ice from here."

Pidge let out a breath. "Okay. Keep us updated, and we'll keep you updated. Now, go get that ice."

"Yes, Pidgey-boo. I'll be sure to bring some just for you." Lance said

"Is this your way of saying that you're gonna poison me?"

Keith laughed. "It would be easier if we just stabbed you. You'd have no time to run away."

She scoffed. "You wish." 

As Pidge's voice faded away, the silence of the universe settled over them. 

"It's so quiet." Lance said, "You can't hear anything."

"It's because of the anti-gravity, I think."

"At least I can hear you."

"That's because we're connected through the earpieces."

"I'm trying to be romantic."

"Be romantic back on Earth, when we're not in the middle of a mission."

"I second that." Pidge's voice came and went in seconds, but her message was understood by both of them.

"No one's letting me seduce my boyfriend," Lance whined, his head drooping.

"I'm already dating you, why do you need to seduce me?"

"So that you can't change your mind and break up with me."

"I won't."

"I'm holding you to that."

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, until they were close enough to the drill site where they could begin gathering samples. 

Lance used the knife to carve out chunks of ice, and had Keith place them in the test cases. They had to fill up four cases, and then they could go back and let Pidge and Hunk take care of the photographs.

After filling out all four, and trying to peek into the cavern unsuccessfully, they decided to return to the ship. 

"We should tell them to bring some lights, it's surprisingly dark in there."

Lance nodded, "Yeah, sure." He picked his way, heading towards a particularly sharp-looking icicle. "Hey, look at this, it's completely horizontal."

"I'm heading over- wait for me." Keith followed the scuff marks left in the ice towards where he last saw Lance. He frowned when the marks disappeared completely and Lance was nowhere in sight. 

He looked up and saw the horizontal icicle Lance had been talking about. Confused, he spoke into his mic. "Hey, Pidge? Did Lance tell you guys anything? I can't find him. His footsteps have completely disappeared, too."

"No. He didn't say anything. The last thing I remember was him talking about some sort of icicle."

"Damn, okay. I'll talk to you once I find him, then."

Keith looked around once more, expecting Lance to pop out from a pile of snow and surprise him. Long seconds ticked by, and Keith began to get worried.

"Pidge, can you- like, track him or something? Aren't there trackers in these suits?"

"Well, yeah, but the navigation screens are down. I won't be able to find him until we get that up and running."

"Then can you focus on that, now? I can't find him, he's not responding and I keep expecting him to appear, but he's _not_ , and god, Pidge I'm scared. His foot-" Keith paused, staring at the icicle Lance had been talking about.

"Keith? _Keith?_ Are you there?" 

"Sorry Pidge, yeah I'm here, I just- spaced out I guess. Look, I'm going to talk to you later, okay. I think I found something."

Keith cut off his mic, ignoring Pidge's protests as he crept closer to the icicle. Besides the fact that it was running parallel to the ground, there was nothing special about it. Leaning closer, he caught sight of a speck of, something. 

It was a tiny splotch, dark in color. Keith reached out to rub it, surprised to find it wet and red. _Lance._

" _Pidge!_ I found blood! Blood, _god_. Fuck the navigation system. Get the ship running as soon as possible. I'll get Lance and we'll meet you at the landing area."

"Keith, what do you mean _you found blood?"_

"Ask questions later, Pidge!" Keith snapped back. "Just get the damn ship running!"

Keith cautiously peeked around the boulder of ice, and seeing no one on either side, he stepped out, moving only a few steps before he felt something heavy rest against the back of his helmet.

"I would suggest that you don't make any hasty movements, okay? Nod if you understand."

Keith nodded stiffly, his eyes scanning for any clues leading to Lance's whereabouts. 

"Turn your mic off.”

Keith nodded again, bringing one hand up to slowly flip the mic switch off.

"It's off," he said, trying to move around and face the owner of the voice.

"Let's not do that," he tutted. Keep walking, I'll give you directions."

Keith started to walk, understanding where he was meant to go by the slight shifts of the gun against his helmet. 

"Here, go through here." Keith looked to see a pile of snow blocking the entrance to what looked like a cave. Pushing the snow aside, he entered, bowls of fire lighting the way deeper and deeper into the tunnel. 

Eventually, the tunnel opened up into a circular chamber. There were fires and tents with the same symbol lined across the edge of the chamber. 

There were smears of dried blood decorating the floor, and with a sinking feeling, Keith realized something. 

"Is that- The other person that was with me?"

"Keep walking."

"Haxus! Who's that?"

The gun slightly lifted from his head, now resting on his shoulder.

"Another insect. Zarkon thinks they might know something about Voltron, and since you all ruined the other one, I had to catch a new one."

What would ruining someone entail? Keith scanned the cavern, looking for a glove or piece of clothing that could help him identify if Lance had been here.

"You," The other person, Haxus, addressed him. "Follow me. I have someone that wants to talk with you." 

They went deeper into the tunnel system, ending up in another, damper cavern. This one had a purple ship parked in the middle, repairs being done to it by what looked like purple-colored men and women.

"Enter the ship," With another prod, Keith propelled himself forward, stumbling over the loose rocks and small bones that crumbled into dust as soon as his feet made contact.

Keith lurched his way up the ramp, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of Lance. He was pushed into a darkly lit room. There was a long banquet table and throes of chairs lining each side. At the opposite end, there was a throne-like chair, high-backed and uncomfortable looking.

On it, a man like no one Keith had ever seen before sat. He had purple skin, long, elvish ears, and flowing white hair that reached down his back. 

"Hello, little human. My name is Lotor. I just want to ask you some questions. Once you answer them, I'll let you go."

"What about," Keith croaked out, "Lance, the person that was here before me?"

Lotor looked amused. "I don't know what you are talking about, little one. Now, what do you know about Voltron."

Keith shook his head. "I've never heard of it before!" Keith racked his brain, drawing a blank on the name _Voltron_.

"I see." The man, Lotor, leaned back in his chair. "How sad." He let out an irritated sigh, before making a shooing motion that, ridiculously, reminded him of Pidge. 

"Kill him."

Keith blanched, his eyes wide with surprise. "I thought you said you'd let us go!"

Lotor grinned, predator-like. "My dear boy, I _am_ letting you go. In my own, very special way. Now, get him out of my sight."

Haxus nodded, before dragging him out. They were almost out of the door when Lotor called out. "Wait."

Haxus looked back, twisting Keith's neck so that he could look, too. Lotor gestured for them to come closer. "Bring me the others, too. The ones that arrived in that ghastly human-made ship." 

Keith shook his head. "We don't know what Voltron is! We've never even heard of it before! I swear!"

Lotor glared at him. "You impertinent boy. How rude of you to interrupt me. He turned to Haxus. "Go fetch and bring them here, to me. Don't mess up like you did with the other boy."

"Yes, my prince." Haxus left seconds later, and Lotor reached down to grip Keith's jaw harshly. 

"My mood is now spoiled because of you stupid, unintelligent creatures. I believe that compensation is in order. I will take _such_ delight in killing you. You should feel honored, boy. Not many have had the privilege of dying by my hands." Lotor studied Keith thoroughly.

"Now, where to start?" Lotor took a nearby carving knife and brushed it against Keith's neck. "Goodbye, you insolent boy." With one clean slash, his throat split, a gush of blood spilling out. 

The scream on the tip of Keith's tongue dissolved, and the pain transformed into something that numbed his body.

Lotor stroked his blood-soaked cheek lovingly. "How beautiful you are now, in death. You have just been elevated into something artistic, boy. Something you never could have dreamed to be while alive."

Lotor grinned, stroking Keith's hair, before abruptly dropping him to the floor. "Let's make sure you're not still alive, shall we?" Lotor raised his foot, and as if Keith was nothing more than a bug, brought his foot back down and crushed his skull in one smooth motion. Blood flowed freely, staining the dark flooring even darker with the sin that had been committed.

Stepping across him, Lotor continued on his way, leaving a trail of one singular bloody footprints. "Where are the rest of the nuisances?"

"We've brought them here, my Prince."

Lotor raised his hands to move them out of his way. "Hello there, children. Tell me, what do you know about Voltron?"

\--

Two months later, a funeral is being held in the middle of a desert. Four empty coffins are being lowered into graves, not big enough to hold a fully grown adult. Four families are crying, sobbing as they claw at the loose soil.

Two months before, a spacecraft left The Garrison and never returned. The four Cadets that were chosen to lead the expedition never returned home. They were finally declared lost in space and were given a plaque to celebrate their service, however short it may have been.

\--

Four households have shrunk. The empty chair at the table serves as a haunting reminder that someone is missing.

In the Garret household, nobody eats. The kitchen is avoided, and a room is barred. The siblings know better than to ask where their Uncle is.

In the Holt household, Colleen Holt wonders where everything went wrong. She lost her husband and her daughter, and she'll be damned if she lets anything happen to her son.

In the McClain household, Veronica sits outside her brother's room. She hates the stars, enough to give up her job as an instructor and move back home. The twins know something's wrong, and don't ask questions. They haven't asked where their brother is, not once.

In the Shirogane household, Shiro cries. He blames himself for planting the idea in his son's head. His husband cries with him. At night, they read and reread every letter they received from their son. They read and reread his adventures and discoveries, and smile and cry as they meet his boyfriend and read and reread the letters his boyfriend sent them, informing them about their son; And they cry even harder when they realize that they'll never get to see his wedding, meet his boyfriend, or get to be a parent to him, ever again.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> *laughs nervously* Well, wasn't that a fun ride? Klance has refused to leave my head so this is the content you'll be getting for now. 
> 
> Things about this fic:  
> \- Lotor killed all four of them. They are dead. Permanently.  
> \- I may or may not make a second chapter for this from Shiro's POV  
> \- I forgot Curtis existed until, like, halfway through this fic  
> \- The Galra will eventually take over the universe because Voltron hasn't been formed  
> \- I wrote this because I wanted to use the MCD tag
> 
> If you see any tags that need to be added or fixed please let me know!
> 
> I'm also open to criticism of any kind! My only request is that it is constructive and not there for the purpose of insulting me or my writing.
> 
> Thank you for reading this, and have a great day!  
> \- Cup
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @woozi-is-164-cm or @abrokecupoftea  
> Find me on Discord @abrokecupoftea #7801


End file.
